New Delhi: Celebrating the power of the human spirit and the virtues of inclusivity, on a day that marked the 125^thbirth anniversary of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and also Baisakhi festivities, Limca Book of Records galvanized forces towards making India an inclusive and accessible society.

At the event hosted at Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Center, the Record book’s editorial team, following its long established tradition, announced a list of 15 PwDs, as the “People of the Year (PoY)” 2016. By doing so, Limca Book of Records wanted to showcase examples of people who did not allow physical disability to become an impediment to success. Shri N R Narayana Murthy, Founder, Infosys Ltd, honoured the POYs along with Mr Venkatesh Kini, President, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia and Mrs Vijaya Ghose, Editor, Limca Book of Records. A jury comprising of former Parliamentarian, MrH K Dua; Radhika Alkazi, Founder &Managing Director – Aarth Aastha and Merry Barua, Founder Director – Action for Autism, chose the POYs.

The People of the Year 2016 include Mr. Akbar Khan – first visually impaired candidate to qualify in the SSC Hindi shorthand and stenography examination; Ms. Arunima Sinha – the first specially abled woman to climb the Mount Everest; Dr. Suresh Advani – Oncologist who performed the first successful bone marrow transplant on a leukemia patient; Mr. Javed Ahmad Tak – winner of the National Award for outstanding contribution towards welfare of Persons with Disabilities; Mr. Ramsurat Majhi- a  messenger of peace who journeyed 23,000 km across India for national harmony; Ms. Ashwini Angadi – winner of the United Nation’s Youth Courage Award for Education; Ms. Aayushi Pareek – youngest and the first visually-challenged woman admitted to the Bar Council of Rajasthan; Mr. K S Rajanna – Paralympic Gold Medalist, entrepreneur and the first differently abled Commissioner of the State Department for Disabled in Karnataka; Major Devender Pal Singh (Retd.) – war hero and an inspiring marathon runner; Ms. Saylee Nandkishor Agavane – Bronze medalist at Global Olympiad Dance Competition; Mr. Ranveer Singh Saini – Gold medalist golfer at the World Special Olympics; Mr. Zameer Dhale – advocacy activist for multi-sensory impaired persons in India; Mr. Rajive Raturi – crusader for legal rights of the specially-abled; Mr. KY Venkatesh – first Indian athlete at the World Dwarf Games to win 6 medals and Ms. Radhika Chand- an accomplished painter and an award winning teacher to the specially-abled

At the felicitation ceremony, Shri N R Narayana Murthy, said, “It is difficult to imagine India becoming a strong economy without becoming an inclusive economy – an economy which is inclusive in gender, ability, ethnicity and all other social parameters. People with disabilities have to be integrated with the mainstream.  Corporates, civil society and governments must come together to accomplish the vision of an accessible India.”

Mr Narayana Murthy also co-signed a petition at this event, addressed to the Prime Minister of India and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment urging them to make “sign language”, an official language of India by including it in the Eight Schedule. The other signatories to the petition included Venkatesh Kini, President Coca-Cola India and South West Asia and all the POYs 2016. The signed petition read “we appreciate the government’s efforts of leading the way in academic developments, teaching, training, technology-integration, and propagation of sign language in India. However, the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s dream of ‘Accessible India’ can only be fulfilled if sign language is included in the Eighth Schedule, as an official language of India. This will bring millions of people to the mainstream and further enable our society to become an inclusive society.”

One of the highlights of the event included the launch of the first ever Braille edition of the Record book, which will enable the visually challenged to browse through the existing records and challenge themselves to improve on them and/or create new records. Limca Book of Records is a platform that belongs to the People of India and the editorial team has now made it more accessible and inclusive. The first copy of the Braille edition was presented by Venkatesh Kini and Shri Narayana Murthy to Mr. Rajpal, Managing Committee Member and Officer, the Blind Relief Association, at the JPM School.

Speaking at annual event of Limca Book of Records, Mr. Venkatesh Kini, said,“As publishers of Limca Book of Records and as a responsible corporate, we are committing ourselves to tutor introductory sign language lessons to 10,000 people. We along with our partners will also conduct sensitization and awareness sessions about PwDs equivalent to 1,000 man-hours of training. Coca-Cola India will work with its allies, partners, vendors, suppliers, key accounts to make buildings, inclusive and disabled friendly. We all need to come together in this movement for PwDs.”

In order to educate and sensitize the audience, the event included a short module on sign language training. The record book also broke its own tradition and presented the People of the Year with a shawl procured from MESH, (Maximizing Employment to Serve the Handicapped) – MESH is an organization that practices Fair Trade with disabled and leprosy affected crafts artisans for their rehabilitation.

The event also showcased the talent and passion of specially abled, through the recital of the National song, ‘VandeMataram’ in sign language. The felicitation ceremony included an uplifting musical performance by the Udaan Orchestra Band, concluding the event on a note of positivity and hope.